Lambrugo

The history of Lambrugo begins in the V-IV century BCE with Celts moving southward into the Lambro area (bruig is Celtic for village). Later would come the Romans.

Yet, for centuries, Lamburgo remained nothing more than a tiny hamlet. Its transformation into a true village occurred around the year 1000 with the return of the Carcanos, Milanese noblemen whose homeland had once been here. A branch of this powerful family established itself on a hill overlooking the valley, building a castle around which the village began to coalesce and grow. The Carcanos were equally influential in the lower village. They established a women’s Benedictine monastery consisting of several buildings and an estate. And since many of its adherents were the offspring of high-ranking families, there was no shortage of generous donations for the monastery. For 750 years, until its suppression by the Cisalpine Republic, the monastery was the area's main economic driver.

Lambrugo's fate, however, was also tied to that of its lords: the Dal Verme, the Giussani and, from the end of the 1600s onwards, the Marquis Crivelli. Apart from the occasional raid (in 1527 Gian Giacomo Medici laid waste to the village and monastery) and some routine reconstruction work, village life continued as it always had for centuries, its agricultural community following the cycle of the seasons. That changed in the early 20th century with the establishment of the first textile mill.
And, as in many of the surrounding villages, the arrival of industry opened up a whole new era for Lambrugo.